WHY IS YOUTUBE BROADCASTING CLIMATE MISINFORMATION TO MILLIONS? - YOUTUBE IS DRIVING ITS USERS TO CLIMATE MISINFORMATION AND THE WORLD'S MOST ...
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Why is YouTube Broadcasting
Climate Misinformation to Millions?
YouTube is driving its users to climate misinformation
and the world’s most trusted brands are paying for it.
15/01/2020 - Avaaz Report
WHY IS YOUTUBE BROADCASTING
CLIMATE MISINFORMATION TO MILLIONS?
YouTube is driving its users to climate misinformation
and the world’s most trusted brands are paying for it.
15/01/2020
“Climate change is one of the most significant global “There is no evidence that CO2 emissions are
challenges of our time, and continued greenhouse gas the dominant factor [in climate change].”
emissions pose an existential threat to humanity.” Richard Lindzen in Climate Change: What Do Scientists Say? -A video being
promoted by YouTube’s algorithm with 1.9 million views
Google 2019 Environmental Report
Contents
Executive Summary 8
I. How YouTube Promotes Climate Misinformation 14
• The instrumental role of the algorithm 16
II. Climate Misinformation Videos on YouTube &
the Global Brands Advertising on Them 20
Recommendations for YouTube to Act Immediately 40
• Detox YouTube’s Algorithm 43
• Correct the Record 45
Recommendations for Companies 46
Annexes 50
• Annex 1: Methodology for Part I 50
• Annex 2: Methodology for Part II 52
• Annex 3: Table - Climate Misinformation Videos Analyzed for Part II 53
• Annex 4: Full List of Brands Found by Avaaz on Climate Misinformation Videos 54
• Annex 5: Further Examples of Advertisements Running on Climate Misinformation Videos 56
• Glossary 62
• Acknowledgment: The Necessity of Having a Fact-Based Discussion on Climate Change
while also Defending Freedom of Expression 64
6 7
Executive Summary
Climate misinformation threatens the health and
safety of our societies and our planet. Protecting
citizens around the world from fake news1
designed to confuse and poison the debate
about climate change must be a key priority
for governments, advertisers and social media
platforms.
1
http://archive.fo/a9srx
8 9YouTube’s tremendous reach - and control over We found that YouTube is driving millions
the content on its site - is unprecedented in of people to watch climate misinformation
media history. People around the globe spend2 videos every day. These climate misinformation
a billion hours on YouTube every day, and the videos aren’t just being uploaded to YouTube
platform has two billion monthly active users,3 and organically seen by interested audiences.
which is more than all the households with TVs4 Instead, YouTube’s recommendation algorithm is
in the entire world. Even more significant when giving these videos free promotion and showing
it comes to audience influence, YouTube is able misinformation to millions who wouldn’t have
to reach more 18-34 year olds than any cable been exposed to it otherwise.
network in the United States.5 Today, YouTube is
Secondly, Avaaz found that YouTube is
the preferred platform for teenagers, according to
incentivizing this climate misinformation
a recent study6 conducted by the Pew Research
content via its monetization program. Every
Center in the US, with 85% of teenagers (ages
time an ad is shown on a YouTube video, the
13–17) saying they use the platform.
advertiser pays a fee,10 of which 55% goes to the
In 2015, YouTube launched a campaign7 to “help video creator and the other 45% to YouTube.
change the way people discuss climate change, so
Avaaz found that some of the largest
that the issue and its consequences could become
household brands in the world, including
more relevant and tangible to people around the
Samsung, L’Oréal, Warner Bros, Carrefour,
world.” In addition, in Google’s February 2019
and Danone as well as two of the largest
Whitepaper on fighting disinformation, YouTube’s
environmental groups in the world,
parent company made it clear that: “We set out
Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund, have
to prevent our systems from serving up content
advertisements running on these climate
that could misinform users in a harmful way,
particularly in domains that rely on veracity, such
misinformation videos. Key Findings of the Report 11
as science, medicine, news, or historical events.
To that end, we introduced a higher bar for
videos that are promoted through the YouTube • YouTube is actively promoting climate • Ads for some of the world’s most trusted
homepage or that are surfaced to users through misinformation to millions of users: brands were found on climate misinformation
the “watch next” recommendations. Just because • For the search term “global warming,” videos:
content is available on the site, it does not mean 16% of the top 100 related videos • Avaaz was able to identify 108
that it will display as prominently throughout the included under the up-next feature12 brands running ads on these climate
recommendation engine."8 had misinformation about climate misinformation videos, including
change. household names like Samsung, L’Oréal,
With this report Avaaz set out to analyse
• For the related videos recommended Decathlon, Danone, Warner Bros and
how effectively YouTube is protecting its
to users who searched “climate change” Carrefour.
users from climate misinformation, and
how well it’s implementing the commitments this number equals 8% and rises to • One in five ads found were from
it made last February specifically around its 21% for the search term “climate green or ethical brands including
recommendation engine. manipulation.” Greenpeace, WWF and Save the
• The climate misinformation videos Children.
For this investigation, Avaaz examined the videos 2
http://archive.fo/Dkygo
YouTube recommends to users when they search
3
http://archive.fo/BwINe Avaaz reviewed had 21.1 million views • Greenpeace, WWF, L’Oreal, Samsung,
http://archive.fo/g6Hrl collectively. Danone, Decathlon, Carrefour, Ecosia, Nikin
4
“global warming,” “climate change,” or “climate 5
http://archive.fo/D0hOY
manipulation.” Specifically, we focused on the 6
http://archive.fo/ZNnVh • This is just the tip of the iceberg: and Save the Children have confirmed that
videos YouTube suggests to users in its ‘Up Next’
7
http://archive.fo/cNzAW
Assuming a similar ratio for they were unaware that their ads were
https://kstatic.googleusercontent.com/...
accompanying these videos and funding
8
feature and the suggestions bar, which are found see page 20. the thousands of other videos
below the video on the mobile app, and on the 9
“YouTube's product chief says for 70 percent of the time you watch, recommended through these and their creators.
you're riding a chain of recommendations driven by artificial intelligence.”
right of the screen on desktop. These YouTube https://www.cnet.com/news/youtube-ces-2018-neal-mohan/ similar search terms, the total views
promoted videos drive the vast majority9 of what 10
http://archive.is/ZgoxE on climate misinformation on YouTube
11
For further details on how Avaaz came to these findings, see the annex.
users watch on the site. 12
See the Annex of this report for further details on how Avaaz defines
likely add up to hundreds of millions.
“Related” and “Recommended” videos.
10 11The videos found and analysed in this report Avaaz recommends that YouTube:
cover a broad range of misinformation themes,
• Detox the YouTube Algorithm -- The
from videos titled “ACTUAL SCIENTIST: Climate
company must end its free promotion of
Change is a Hoax” and “CIA Whistleblower Speaks
misinformation and disinformation videos by
Out About Climate Engineering Vaccination
extracting such videos from its algorithms,
Dangers and 911”13 to claims that there is no
starting immediately by including climate
evidence that CO2 emissions are the dominant
misinformation in its borderline content
factor in climate change.
policy.
Avaaz has classified videos as “climate denial and • Demonetize Disinformation -- Add
misinformation” if they contained verifiably false disinformation and misinformation to
or misleading information that has the potential YouTube’s relevant monetization policies,
to cause public harm, such as undermining ensuring such content does not include
public support for efforts to limit human-induced advertising and is not financially incentivized.
climate change, as assessed against the scientific YouTube should start immediately with the
consensus represented by the Intergovernmental option for advertisers to exclude their ads
Panel on Climate Change, NASA, NOAA and other from videos with climate misinformation.
peer-reviewed scientific literature.
• Correct the Record -- Work with independent
In recent years, YouTube has been repeatedly fact-checkers to inform users who have seen
criticized for promoting conspiracy theories or interacted with verifiably false or misleading
and pushing misinformation, and the company information, and issue corrections alongside
has introduced important reforms in response. these videos.
In January 2019, YouTube pledged14 “to limit
recommendations of borderline content and Avaaz believes that YouTube has the
harmful misinformation, such as videos promoting opportunity to be a trailblazer in the fight
a phony miracle cure for a serious illness, or against misinformation: the company is already
claiming the earth is flat.” In addition, in some committed to solving this problem and creating a
countries, including the US, UK, Spain, Germany, better and safer information environment for its
South Korea15 and India16, YouTube is displaying users. Now is the time for YouTube to act more
information panels17 when people search for systematically and more urgently to implement
topics that are “prone to misinformation” — these solutions, like the recommendations described
consist of boxes of text that provide topical above, to ensure this new decade is not plagued
context from YouTube’s third party partners like by the disinformation problems started in the last
Wikipedia. one.
Sixty-four percent of the climate misinformation Similarly, advertisers must both ensure that they
videos Avaaz analyzed for this report were found follow through on their own corporate social
to have an information panel from Wikipedia, responsibility commitments and track what kind of
containing general information about global content their advertising revenue is inadvertently
warming. However, there was no flag to users that funding - and work with YouTube to be more
these videos contained misinformation and they transparent and socially responsible when it
were still being suggested by YouTube. comes to where the platform places their brand
names. Advertisers must establish detailed ethical
In order to effectively protect societies from this
ad placement requirements for platforms that
harmful misinformation, YouTube must take
include correcting the record and detoxing the
a more systemic approach. After consultation
algorithm. Avaaz commends the brands who have
with industry experts, advertisers and legislators
already begun this critical work.
around the world,
13
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl5NW9KcMt0
14
http://archive.fo/hP7vz
15
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9004474?hl=en
16
http://archive.fo/8pPhn
17
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9004474?hl=en
12 13I. How YouTube
Promotes Climate
Misinformation
14 15The instrumental role YouTube APIs asking for the top related videos
from these search results. In the end, we gathered
By focusing its recommendation algorithm
on views and time spent on videos, YouTube
the views for the top 100 related videos for
the search term “global warming” were on
of the algorithm a total of 5,537 videos. Avaaz focused on the
following three search terms: “global warming,”
has opened the door to promoting content
whether it is misinformation or not as long as
climate misinformation videos. For videos
recommended based on the search term “climate
“climate change” and “climate manipulation.” people keep watching. Our research also change” this number equals 17% and rises to 27%
We chose the two neutral search terms (“global shows that this may have had an impact for the search term “climate manipulation.”
Recommended videos are a key part of the warming” and “climate change”) to analyse what on virality and engagement: Over 20% of
YouTube user experience: According to18 the type of videos would be recommended to an
platform’s chief product officer, Neal Mohan, 70% average YouTube user interested in the issue as
of the time users spend on YouTube is driven well as “climate manipulation” as a more charged
by the platform’s recommendations. In order search term, which refers to the conspiracy theory % of Views and Likes on Climate Change
to keep viewers on the site longer, the YouTube that powerful corporations and governments are Denial and Misinformation Videos
algorithm makes personalized19 recommendations controlling the climate.Our full methodology is
Based on the top 100 related videos for each search query.
to the user either in the form of videos on the explained in the annex.
platform’s landing page, as the “up next” video
played after the video, or in the sidebar. These The results of our investigation are clear:
recommendations are meant to help viewers find YouTube is promoting misinformation
content they might want to watch among millions about climate change to millions. Sixteen
of videos available on the site. However, there percent of the top 100 videos detected by the
have been harmful unintended consequences YouTube API to be highly related to the initial
to this model. For instance, for every climate video results for the search term “global warming”
misinformation video someone watches or had misinformation about climate change. These
likes, similar content is likely to show up in related videos play a significant role in what winds
that person’s recommendations, thereby up being recommended by YouTube in its “Up
trapping the viewer in an online bubble of Next” feature and suggestions bar. For related Views
misinformation.20 videos based on the search term “climate change” Likes
this number equals 8% and rises to 21% for the
For our investigation, Avaaz conducted a series search term “climate manipulation”. In total, the
of YouTube searches in English on three climate climate misinformation videos Avaaz found
topics, collected the top results and queried for this investigation had 21.1 million views.
% of Climate Change Misinformation Videos for Each Search Term
Based on the top 100 related videos.
18
http://archive.fo/KrHyo
19
http://archive.fo/KfqVO
20
http://archive.ph/1YUJa
16 17Misinformation videos account for over 20% of views for top 100
related videos for the search term "global warming"
Each circle is a video whose size is equal to number of views, and only videos with more than 500,000
views labeled. Based on the top 100 related videos for global warming related search queries.
18 19I. Climate Misinformation
Videos on YouTube
& the Global Brands
Advertising on Them
20 21Image digitally created for visualization purposes only - @Avaaz
Avaaz found ads from a significant number of were from household brands. In just two days
the world’s most widely recognized and trusted of research and 10 viewings per video in six
household brands and environmental companies countries, some brands such as Aeromexico,
and NGOs running on the climate misinformation Uber, Samsung, Decathlon, L’Oreal and Harley
videos we analysed for this report. Davidson appeared over five times, sometimes How Ad placement on YouTube provides content exclusion settings26
that let advertisers opt out of showing their ads
over 10 times. For a full list of the brands and
For Avaaz’s investigation into which brands
had ads on climate misinformation videos, our
advertisements found by Avaaz during this YouTube Works alongside certain categories of websites, videos
and mobile apps that may not be appropriate
investigation, see Annex 4.
research team focused in on the top 10 most for their brand or serve their advertising goals.
viewed misinformation videos for the “global It is crucial to understand that these ads are Such categories include sensitive social issues,
warming” search term, and the top 5 most actually helping to financially incentivize the Several audience and content targeting methods23 tragedy and conflict, sexually suggestive content,
viewed misinformation videos for the “climate creation of climate misinformation content. Every for video ads are available to advertisers and sensational and shocking content. All
change” and “climate manipulation” search time an ad is shown on a YouTube video, the on YouTube, such as targeting based on content creators who are part of YouTube’s
terms respectively. Our intent was not to do advertiser pays a fee22, of which 55% goes demographic groups, interests, placements on monetization program -- meaning they have ads
a comprehensive examination but to get an to the video creator and the other 45% to YouTube channels or videos, topics, keywords, running on their videos that they earn money for
overview of which ads tended to appear on YouTube. etc. One option for advertisers is automatic must comply with advertiser-friendly content27
the most trending videos recommended by placement24 of their ads. Alternatively, advertisers guidelines, otherwise advertising will be disabled
Avaaz reached out to several of the companies can choose to have managed placement25 for on their videos. In reviewing YouTube’s
YouTube.21
and NGOs whose advertisements were found on ads, which is a targeting method advertisers can relevant monetization policies, however,
In total, Avaaz was able to identify 108 climate misinformation videos. As of publication of use to specifically choose websites, videos and Avaaz was not able to find any direct
brands running ads on these climate this report, Greenpeace, WWF, L’Oreal, Samsung, apps that are part of the Google Display Network. mention of misinformation as a criteria
misinformation videos. One in five of the ads Danone, Decathlon, Carrefour, Nikin, Ecosia and Unlike the automatic placements, advertisers for content where advertising is banned or
shown were from green or ethical brands as Save the Children have confirmed that they were select managed placement themselves. disabled.
well as public entities, such as Greenpeace, unaware that their ads were accompanying these
WWF, Ecosia, Save the Children, the German climate misinformation videos.
Interior Ministry, and Eureciclo. Avaaz also found
that 12.5% of the ads on the monetized videos
21
For our full methodology, please refer to the annex of this report. 23
http://archive.fo/OFSxm 26
http://archive.fo/sBJ14
22
http://archive.is/ZgoxE 24
http://archive.fo/wlbcR 27
http://archive.fo/65wJi
25
http://archive.fo/9PPPA
22 23Below are a few examples of the monetized
climate misinformation videos found by
Avaaz as well as the advertisements that
accompany them. Avaaz researchers reviewed
some of the main claims made by each of these
videos. Our team was easily able to find evidence
confirming that these claims were verifiably false
or misleading (ie misinformation) as assessed
against the scientific consensus represented by
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,
NASA, NOAA and other peer-reviewed scientific
literature.
Note: In some countries, YouTube promotes a
Wikipedia article on global warming under some
of the videos we found in this investigation, which
is part of YouTube’s current effort to fight climate
misinformation.28 However, YouTube does not give
users an indication that the video itself contains
misinformation. And, as this research shows, these
videos are still promoted by YouTube’s algorithm.
Caption: Screenshot of a video with a Wikipedia information panel below it.
28
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zahrahirji/
youtube-climate-change-denial
24 25VIDEO EXAMPLE #1 NASA Earth Observatory32 has confirmed that:
“The world is getting warmer. Whether the cause
What They Haven’t is human activity or natural variability—and the
preponderance of evidence says it’s humans—
Told You about Climate thermometer readings all around the world have
risen steadily since the beginning of the Industrial
Change 28
Revolution...According to an ongoing temperature
analysis conducted by scientists at NASA’s Goddard
Institute for Space Studies (GISS), the average
global temperature on Earth has increased by
This video was uploaded on the PragerU channel, about 0.8° Celsius (1.4° Fahrenheit) since 1880.
which has 2.31 million subscribers and claims to Two-thirds of the warming has occurred since
promote “Judeo-Christian values.” It is curated by 1975, at a rate of roughly 0.15-0.20°C per decade...
the conservative30 talk-radio host Dennis Prager. The line plot below shows yearly temperature
At the time of Avaaz’s research in August, the anomalies from 1880 to 2014 as recorded by NASA,
video had been viewed over 2.6 million times NOAA, the Japan Meteorological Agency, and the
since it was first published on July 27, 2015. Met Office Hadley Centre (United Kingdom). Though
Since August it has already racked up nearly an there are minor variations from year to year, all
additional 1 million views.31 The scientific community agrees that there are In a caption in this video it says Patrick Moore is a
four records show peaks and valleys in sync with
many factors that play into climate change, but co-founder of Greenpeace; however, Greenpeace
There are many claims in Moore’s videos. Here each other. All show rapid warming in the past
Moore ignores the mountain of peer reviewed has denied this, saying that “although Mr Moore
are a few of the main claims found to be verifiably few decades, and all show the last decade as the
studies showing that changes in CO2 levels is the played a significant role in Greenpeace Canada
false or misleading by Avaaz: warmest.”33
cause of past cooling and warming periods. for several years, he did not found Greenpeace.”35
In the past, Moore has been criticized36 for his
There has been no significant warming trend in For example, The National Oceanic and
alleged relations with the nuclear, timber and
the 21st century. Atmospheric Association (NOAA) concludes: "One
29
http://archive.ph/fzK1T plastics industries and lobbies.
Temperatures and carbon dioxide levels do not 30
http://archive.ph/uUVxC of the most remarkable aspects of the paleoclimate
show a strong correlation. 31
As of December 12, 2019 record is the strong correspondence between
32
http://archive.ph/JktDU
Patrick Moore is a co-founder of Greenpeace. 33
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/world-of-
temperature and the concentration of carbon
change/DecadalTemp dioxide in the atmosphere observed during the
glacial cycles of the past several hundred thousand
years. When the carbon dioxide concentration goes
up, temperature goes up. When the carbon dioxide
concentration goes down, temperature goes
down."33,34
34
https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/global-warming/temperature-change
35
Further sources: Jouzel, J. et al. Orbital and Millennial Antarctic
Climate Variability over the Past 800,000 Years. Science 317, 793–797
(2007); Luthi, D. et al. High-resolution carbon dioxide concentration
record 650,000–800,000 years before present. Nature 453, 379–382,
10.1038/nature06949 (2008); Luthi, D. et al. EPICA Dome C Ice
Core 800KYr Carbon Dioxide Data. IGBP PAGES/World Data Center
for Paleoclimatology Data Contribution Series # 2008-055. NOAA/
NCDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder CO, USA (2008); Lacis, A.
A., Schmidt, G. A., Rind, R. & Ruedy, R. A. Atmospheric CO2: Principal
Knob Governing Earth’s Temperature. Science 330, 356–359 (2010);
Came, R., Eiler, J., Veizer, J. et al. Coupling of surface temperatures and
atmospheric CO2 concentrations during the Palaeozoic era. Nature
449, 198–201 (2007).
36
Greenpeace have stated that: "Although Mr Moore played a
significant role in Greenpeace Canada for several years, he did
not found Greenpeace." Greenpeace has said: "Phil Cotes, Irving
Stowe, and Jim Bohlen founded Greenpeace in 1970." Mr Moore
left Greenpeace in 1986 see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-
canada-47543905
37
http://archive.ph/g45aQ
26 27Eleven brands were found with ads on this video. Ecosia Ad
See examples below of Danone, NIKIN and Ecosia’s ads. Ecosia is an internet search
engine that donates a large
part of its profits (80% in
August 201943) to reforestation
Danone Ad organizations. In this ad, Ecosia is
Danone is a French multinational promoting its search engine and
food-products corporation. explains its policy of reinvesting
This ad presents Danone’s baby its profits in planting trees
milk formula Aptamil. On its worldwide.
website39 Danone states: “Climate
change is a profound, systemic
challenge—not in the future, 42
The screenshot of the ad taken during this
but right here, right now,” and research has been altered for the sake of
design. Copy of the originals are available
that “Danone is meeting this upon request.
challenge head on by committing 43
http://archive.fo/zHfTW
to be carbon neutral by 2050
and co-creating carbon positive
solutions.” Danone is a member Caption: a screenshot of the Ecosia ad on the “What They Haven’t Told You
of the Global Alliance for about Climate Change” video.42
Responsible Media.
Caption: a screenshot of a Danone ad on the “What They Haven’t Told You about
Climate Change” video.38
NIKIN Ad
NIKIN is a fair and sustainable
fashion brand based in
Switzerland. They also invest
in tree planting programs
to counteract global
deforestation41. In this advert,
NIKIN promotes its clothing line
explaining that for each product
sold, one dollar is donated to
reforestation projects all over
the world.
38
The screenshot of the ad taken during
this research has been altered for the
sake of design. Copy of the originals are
available upon request.
39
http://archive.fo/be4ER
40
The screenshot of the ad taken during
this research has been altered for the
sake of design. Copy of the originals are
available upon request. Caption: a screenshot of a NIKIN tree by tree ad on the “What They Haven’t
41
https://en.nikinclothing.com/pages/ Told You about Climate Change” video.40
baeume-pflanzen
28 29VIDEO EXAMPLE #2 According to the IPCC: “There is considerable Thirty-one brands were found advertising on this video in the
confidence that climate models provide credible timeframe of Avaaz’s research. Below are advertisement examples
The Truth About quantitative estimates of future climate change,
particularly at continental scales and above. This from L'Oreal, Decathlon, Lionsgate, and Versace.52
Global Warming 44
confidence comes from the foundation of the models
in accepted physical principles and from their ability
to reproduce observed features of current climate L’Oréal Ad
and past climate changes. Confidence in model
This video, an excerpt of a much longer interview estimates is higher for some climate variables (e.g., L’Oréal, based in France, is the world's largest
with Dr. Patrick Michaels, was published on the temperature) than for others (e.g., precipitation). cosmetics company. Here, L’Oréal advertises its Pure
Fox News channel. At the time of Avaaz’s research Over several decades of development, models have Charcoal range of skincare products for men. In 2017,
in August, this video had been viewed over 2 consistently provided a robust and unambiguous L’Oréal launched Women4Climate,54 an initiative
million times since its publication on October picture of significant climate warming in response to aiming to “empower and mentor young women who
21, 2018. Since then, the video has racked up an increasing greenhouse gases.”46,47 develop projects addressing climate change in their
additional 460,000 views.45 home city.” In the same year, the US branch of L’Oréal
In addition, according to the fact-checking was named the most sustainable company of the
There are many claims made by this video. organisation Climate Feedback,48 the claim that year by Newsweek’s Green Ranking.55
Some of the core claims that Avaaz found to be only half of global warming might be caused by
misinformation include: human activity, beginning in 1976, is incorrect:
“Human-caused warming did not begin in 1976,
31 of 32 climate models are flawed by design to Caption: a screenshot of the L’Oréal ad.53
as Michaels claims. No evidence or research is
vastly over-predict warming
provided to support this claim, which contradicts the
Only half of global warming might be caused by published scientific literature. [...] Multiple factors—
human activity, beginning in 1976 some human-caused and some natural—combine
As the video says: “There are 32 families of to influence global temperatures. However, human
computer models that are used by the United activities were already causing warming in the first Decathlon Ad
Nations, each government sponsored. And all of half of the 20th century, and are responsible for Decathlon is a French multinational retailer
them are predicting far, far too much warming...[the approximately 100% of the more-rapid warming distributing sports equipment and clothing.
31 models] are what is called parameterized. They're taking place after 1950. Thus, humans are This ad is part of the company’s back-to-school
all parameterized, can I translate parameterized responsible for most of the warming since 1900.”49 campaign encouraging children to get involved in
into English? Fudged. They don't get the right sports. In the sustainability section of Decathlon’s
Dr. Michaels is currently a senior fellow in the
answer, don't know the right answer for a certain website the company states: “Decathlon identified
Center for Energy and Environment at the
phenomena, so we essentially put in code steps that reducing greenhouse gas emissions as one of our
Competitive Enterprise Institute.50 Michaels once
give us what we think it should be. And the systematic priority challenges in 2013. In 2017 we increased
estimated that “40 percent” of his funding comes
error that was made was the models were tuned, yes, our oversight of emissions-measuring efforts
from the oil industry in a CNN interview with
I said, tuned.” and in 2018 we expanded these to our product
Fareed Zakaria.51
suppliers.”57
Caption: Dr. Patrick Michaels in an interview
discussing climate change on Fox News.
Caption: a screenshot of the Decathlon ad.56
48
Climate Feedback is accredited by the International Fact-Checking 50
https://web.archive.org/web/20190906135819/https://cei.org/content/
Network at Poynter. “Climate Feedback is a non-partisan, non- patrick-j-michaels
profit organization dedicated to science education. Our reviews are 51
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fguJod_voPc&feature=youtu.be
44
http://archive.fo/71LrJ crowdsourced directly from a community of scientists with relevant 52
In the timeframe of Avaaz’s research between September 18 and
45
As of December 12, 2019 expertise. We strive to explain whether and why information is or is not September 24.
46
https://archive.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ consistent with the science and to help readers know which news to trust.” 53
The screenshot of the ad taken during this research has been altered
faq-8-1.html See: https://climatefeedback.org/climate-feedback-accredited-by-the- for the sake of design. Copy of the originals are available upon request.
47
For more information, see FAQ 8.1, extracted from Chapter international-fact-checking-network-at-poynter-for-the-second-year/ 54
http://archive.fo/I9OFI
8 of "IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science 49
https://climatefeedback.org/claimreview/on-fox-news-patrick-michaels- 55
http://archive.fo/nG8i8
Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment falsely-claims-humans-are-only-responsible-for-half-of-global-warming/. 56
The screenshot of the ad taken during this research has been altered
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate Feedback noted: “This claim is being reviewed months after the
for the sake of design. Copy of the originals are available upon request.
[Solomon, S., D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. interview first ran because it has recently been recirculated by blogs
Averyt, M.Tignor and H.L. Miller (eds.)]. Cambridge University dismissive of climate science, and has been one of the most highly
57
http://sustainability.decathlon.com/action-areas/challenges-strategies/
Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. promoted videos by YouTube’s suggestion algorithm in recent weeks.” climate-commitment/
30 31Lionsgate Ad
Lionsgate Entertainment Corp
(Lionsgate) is an entertainment
company from the US that
produces and distributes motion
pictures and television programs
and runs several media networks.
This ad promotes the upcoming
murder mystery movie, Knives Out,
59
starring Jamie Lee Curtis and
Chris Evans. Chris Evans has been
highly vocal60 in the climate change
fight in past years.
Caption: A screenshot of the ad ”Knives Out” by Lionsgate.58
Versace Ad
Versace is an Italian luxury
fashion label. The ad presents
its new fall/winter handbag line
“Virtus.” In 2018, Versace opened
a sustainable design concept
store in Bal Harbour. “There’s no
bigger luxury than our future.
The new Versace concept is a
commitment towards Versace’s
sustainable legacy,” Donatella
Versace said in a statement.62
Caption: Actor Chris Evans who is
featured in a Lionsgate ad for the movie
Caption: A screenshot of the Versace ad.61 Knives Out, which was found running
on a climate misinformation video.
58
The screenshot of the ad taken during this research has been altered for the sake of design.
Copy of the originals are available upon request.
59
http://archive.fo/jGpI3
60
http://archive.fo/fY3Po
61
The screenshot of the ad taken during this research has been altered for the sake of design.
Copy of the originals are available upon request.
62
http://archive.fo/FWSMc
32 33VIDEO EXAMPLE #3 On the first point, the scientific consensus is Avaaz found eighteen brands advertising alongside
that CO2 is the main driver of climate change.
this video over the course of our research. Below are
Climate Change: What This is borne out in the literature using direct
measurement, historical data, and models.67 examples of ads from Greenpeace and EToro.71
Do Scientists Say?
63
On the second point, Lindzen has cherry picked
a quote from the IPCC’s 2001 report68 and
incorrectly attributed it to the 2007 report. Greenpeace Ad
Richard Lindzen who is narrating this video is a Read in context, the original 2001 quote is far Greenpeace is a global non-governmental
former professor at the Massachusetts Institute from Lindzen’s meaning, and in the 2007 report environmental organization. In this ad,
of Technology64 and a former senior fellow at the the IPCC confirms that: “There is considerable Greenpeace Spain is campaigning to raise
Cato Institute65. At the time of Avaaz’s research66 confidence that climate models provide credible awareness of the threats posed by climate
in August, the video, posted on April 18th, 2016, quantitative estimates of future climate change, change to the country, saying: “Spain is one
had been viewed over 1.9 million times. particularly at continental scales and above.”69 of the countries most vulnerable to climate
On the third point, this report already addressed change,”73 and is asking the public to sign
There are many claims in this video. Some a petition to be presented to the Spanish
of the main claims that Avaaz found to be a similar claim made by Patrick Michaels
(see Video #2). In addition, the fifth IPCC government to increase investment in green
misinformation include: and clean energy sources.
report of 2014 stated: “It is extremely likely
“There is no evidence that CO2 emissions are [95 percent confidence] more than half of the
the dominant factor [in climate change].” [1:48 Caption: A screenshot of the Greenpeace Spain ad.
observed increase in global average surface
Translated to English, the upper left corner reads, “What
The IPCC acknowledged in its own 2007 report temperature from 1951 to 2010 was caused by climate change brings.” The large text reads, “Spain is one
that: “the long-term prediction of future climate the anthropogenic increase in greenhouse gas of the countries most vulnerable to climate change." 72
states is not possible.” concentrations and other anthropogenic forcings
Only since the 1960s have man’s greenhouse together.”70
emissions been sufficient to play a role in
raising global mean temperatures.
eToro Ad
This ad promotes the services of eToro, an
online social trading company. In 2019, eToro
created a new portfolio for Renewable Energy
stating:75 “The realisation that humanity
should change over to more sustainable
sources of energy is becoming more
evident.”76
Caption: A screenshot of the eToro ad.74
63
http://archive.fo/pDJm1
64
http://archive.ph/i42gk
65
http://archive.ph/LvELk
66
August 2019
67
IPCC 2013: The physical science basis. Working
Group I contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment
Report. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge
University Press. www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1; NOAA 69
Working Group I Contribution to the IPCC 4th Assessment Report, see 73
Avaaz translation
2016. The NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index.
p.600, FAQ 8.1 - https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/05/ar4_wg1_ 74
The screenshot of the ad taken during this research has been
Accessed June 2016. www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/aggi;
Caption: Richard Lindzen, an atmospheric physicist who is narrating the Stips, A., Macias, D., Coughlan, C. et al. On the causal
full_report-1.pdf altered for the sake of design. Copy of the originals are available
animation, states that there is no evidence that CO2 emissions are the structure between CO2 and global temperature. Sci
70
IPCC 5th Assessment Synthesis Report. https://ar5-syr.ipcc.ch/topic_ upon request.
observedchanges.php 75
http://archive.fo/leRbu
dominant factor causing climate change. Rep 6, 21691 (2016); Royer, D.L., Berner, R.A., et al.
CO2 as a primary driver of Phanerozoic climate: GSA
71
In the timeframe of Avaaz’ research between September 18th and 76
https://www.etoro.com/copyportfolios/renewableenergy (not
Today, v. 14, no. 3, (2004) September 24th possible to archive, request was blocked by the security rules by
68
IPCC 2001, WG I, Section 14.2.2, https://www.ipcc.
72
The screenshot of the ad taken during this research has been altered for eToro)
ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/TAR-14.pdf the sake of design. Copy of the originals are available upon request.
34 35VIDEO EXAMPLE #4 video’s primary points, which Avaaz found to be Thirty brands were found with ads running on this video,
misinformation, is that the current increase in including Samsung, Showtime Network and Atol.84
The Great Global global temperatures is caused by changes in the
activity of the sun not by rising greenhouse gases.
Warming Swindle
77
Much of the content in the video is built around
the writing of Danish atmospheric physicist Dr. Samsung Ad
Funded by thirty brands including Eigil Friis-Christensen whose reports on this
Samsung is a South Korean
matter have been disproved, including by a
Samsung, Showtime Network and Atol well known peer-reviewed article published by
multinational electronics company,
a major manufacturer of electronic
Stanford University.80
goods. This ad is part of Samsung’s
The IPCC report from 2007,81 which was released #SamsungBelief #DoWhatYouCant
Released in 2007, “The Great Global Warming
one month before this video, stated that: campaign. This particular ad tells the
Swindle,” is a controversial film questioning the
“Human-induced warming of the climate system history of the company, describing
existence of a scientific consensus on global
is widespread. (...) Greenhouse gas forcing has how Samsung found its purpose:
warming and the credibility of the IPCC. The video
very likely caused most of the observed global “Do the right thing for the people
opens up with several different speakers claiming
warming over the last 50 years."82 The summary and eventually mankind.”86 Samsung
that CO2 is not responsible for global warming. At
for policymakers of that same report also says it is “committed to becoming
the time of Avaaz’s research, the video had been
stated: “Global atmospheric concentrations of a socially and environmentally
viewed 873,934 times on YouTube since it was
carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have responsible corporate citizen in all of
first posted there on August 19, 2018. Since then,
increased markedly as a result of human activities its communities worldwide.”87
it has racked up an additional 100,000 views.78
since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial
Most of the core claims in this video were values determined from ice cores spanning many
debunked immediately after it was aired by thousands of years.”83
George Monbiot for The Guardian.79 One of the Caption: A screenshot of the Samsung ad.85
77
http://archive.fo/Jh3jt
78
As of December 12, 2019
79
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/mar/13/science.media
80
Laut, Peter. (2003). Solar activity and terrestrial climate: An analysis of some purported correlations. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial
Physics. 65. 801-812. Report can be found at: stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Publications/PDF_Papers/Laut2003.pdf
81
Working Group I Contribution to the IPCC 4th Assessment Report https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/05/ar4_wg1_full_report-1.pdf
82
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/05/ar4_wg1_full_report-1.pdf, see p. 665
Caption: Astrophysicist Piers Corbyn saying that: “None of the major climate changes 83
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/ar4-wg1-spm-1.pdf
in the past thousand years can be explained by CO2.”
84
In the timeframe of Avaaz’s research between September 18 and September 24
85
The screenshot of the ad taken during this research has been altered for the sake of design. Copy of the originals are available upon request.
86
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkCcBTY6_Es&t=0m34s [00:34] (http://archive.fo/UuibG)
87
http://archive.fo/dkoGf
36 37Showtime Ad
Showtime is a subscription television
network from the U.S. that serves as the
flagship service of the Showtime Networks
subsidiary of CBS Corporation. This ad
promotes the new season of one of its
TV-series, “Shameless.” In 2014, Showtime
produced “Years of Living Dangerously,”
a documentary series on climate change.
On its website89, CBS Corporation
states: “Operating our businesses with
sustainability in mind has long been a core
value at CBS.”
Caption: A screenshot of the ad for the
series “Shameless,” by Showtime.88
ATOL Ad
ATOL is a large French optician
chain that provides services across
France. The ad promotes the
company’s many stores. On the
company website,91 ATOL states
that it “deploys numerous devices to
limit its ecological impact,” and that
the company chooses to produce
its products in France rather than in
China to reduce its CO2 emissions.92
Caption: a screenshot of the ATOL ad.90
88
The screenshot of this ad taken during this research has been altered for the sake of design.
Copies of the originals are available upon request.
89
http://archive.fo/JCM0N
90
The screenshot of the ad taken during this research has been altered for the sake of design.
Copy of the originals are available upon request.
91
http://archive.fo/wX1wZ
92
http://archive.fo/wX1wZ
38 39Recommendations
for YouTube to Act
Immediately
YouTube is defining the information space
for hundreds of millions of people every
day, and malicious actors are being allowed
to abuse the platform’s reach to achieve
harmful ends.
40 41YouTube has a heightened responsibility to deal
with disinformation and misinformation given
2. Demonetize Misinformation & Detox YouTube’s immediately with climate denial and climate
misinformation videos.
Disinformation
the platform’s skyrocketing growth metrics.
Its 1.9 billion registered users account for Add misinformation and disinformation
Recommendation B. Three strikes rule for misinformation
approximately 44% of the global population that
uses the internet. One billion hours of videos
to YouTube’s relevant monetization Algorithm channels
policies, ensuring such content does not
are watched on YouTube every day.93 Eighty- YouTube already terminates channels if they
include advertising and is not financially
five percent of US teenagers say they use the accrue three Community Guidelines Strikes99
incentivized. YouTube should start
platform,94 and tween (9-12 year olds) and teen As this study shows, YouTube itself is actively within 90 days. However, for spreading
immediately with the option for advertisers
watch times have doubled in the last five years recommending misinformation content to millions disinformation content, which Google’s
to exclude their ads from videos with
making YouTube their preferred social media of users who wouldn’t have been exposed to it Disinformation Whitepaper100 defines as
climate misinformation.
platform.95 otherwise. To stop the spread of such dangerous “purposefully disseminating information one
content, YouTube must detoxify its algorithm knows to be inaccurate with the hope that others
We do not question the fact that YouTube’s 3. Correct the Record by: believe it is true or to create discord in society,”
integrity and misinformation teams have taken channels are not penalized as that is not seen
strong and commendable steps in the direction Work with independent fact-checkers to A. Extracting every video that has been as a violation of the platform’s Guidelines.101
of downgrading misinformation content. inform users who have seen or interacted identified as misinformation from its Avaaz believes YouTube should change its policy
However, given the findings of our investigation with verifiably false or misleading recommendation engine. on this front, and hold channels that spread
-- compounded by the lack of solid data provided information, and issue corrections misinformation and disinformation accountable
by YouTube to demonstrate its progress - - we alongside these videos. This means that YouTube must ensure that lies to an optimised version of its existing three strikes
believe the company’s actions thus far fall short and misleading content are not freely promoted rule.
of what is needed to defend our society against to users across the world. This policy is in line with
misinformation and disinformation. 4. Transparency what YouTube says96 it’s already doing: This would mean that if a channel is detected
to have spread misinformation or to have
Avaaz has consulted extensively with academics, Although YouTube promises to work “We set out to prevent our systems from serving violated YouTube’s guidelines in an effort
lawmakers, civil society and social media openly with researchers, the company up content that could misinform users in a to spread misinformation, deceive users or
executives to develop simple, rights-based and maintains an opaque process around harmful way, particularly in domains that manipulate the YouTube algorithm (fake
effective solutions to the misinformation and its recommendation algorithms and on rely on veracity, such as science, medicine, views, spam comments... etc) more than
disinformation problem on YouTube and other how effective its policies are in dealing news, or historical events [...] Ensuring these three times, all the channels’ content should
social media platforms. with misinformation. YouTube should recommendation systems less frequently provide be extracted from the algorithms. The
immediately release data showing the fringe or low-quality disinformation content is a channels should not be deleted, but neither
amount of views on misinformation top priority for the company.” should they be further accelerated.
content that were driven by its As this report shows, YouTube is not effectively
recommendation algorithms. YouTube Channels should of course be given an
living up to its own commitment. YouTube must opportunity to issue corrections to their viewers
must also work with researchers to ensure immediately up its game to ensure that it does not
The most urgent policies that YouTube or challenge the decision if they disagree with
access to its recommendation algorithms promote misinformation, but sidelines it.
must implement are: it, but those channels unwilling to stop their
to study misinformation.
YouTube has a detailed system97 for rating malicious behavior should not be amplified.
content, which includes tools for identifying
1. Detox YouTube’s Algorithms harmful misinformation. The platform also makes
it clear that videos that “misinform or deceive
The company must end its free promotion Avaaz has consulted extensively with academics, users” especially about “content that contradicts
96
http://archive.fo/K6rMu
https://kstatic.googleusercontent.com/files/388aa7d18189665e-
of misinformation and disinformation lawmakers, civil society and social media
97
well-established expert consensus” must be 5f5579aef18e181c2d4283fb7b0d4691689dfd1bf92f7ac2ea6816e-
videos by extracting such videos from executives to develop simple, rights-based and rated as the poorest quality content on the 09c02eb98d5501b8e5705ead65af653cdf94071c47361821e362da55b
its recommendation algorithms, starting effective solutions to the misinformation and YouTube and Google share the same content rating guidelines, which
98
platform.98 This system makes it clear that the refer to “pages” rather than “videos.” https://support.google.com/you-
immediately by including climate disinformation problem on YouTube and other platform is both interested in and able to identify tube/answer/9230586 (“YouTube also uses third party evaluators to
misinformation in its borderline content social media platforms. misinformation. However, rating content is not
provide feedback on YouTube’s search results, recommendations, and
the relevance of certain videos. This feedback helps us evaluate, train,
policy. enough if it’s still going to be promoted widely. and improve our systems, as well as the quality of recommendations on
YouTube. These evaluators are trained using the same public guidelines
that Google uses for search results.”).
To ensure that YouTube is no longer 99
http://archive.fo/K6rMu
93
https://www.oberlo.com/blog/youtube-statistics amplifying dangerous content, the platform 100
https://kstatic.googleusercontent.com/files/388aa7d18189665e-
5f5579aef18e181c2d4283fb7b0d4691689dfd1bf92f7ac2ea6816e-
94
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2018/05/31/teens-social- should extract all videos known to be 09c02eb98d5501b8e5705ead65af653cdf94071c47361821e362da55b
media-technology-2018/
95
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/ misinformation from its algorithms, starting 101
We were not able to find any mention in any of YouTube's policies of
research/2019-census-8-to-18-key-findings-updated.pdf penalties for disinformation like those set out for violations of Commu-
nity Guidelines.
42 43Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of
reach. More details on how to implement the
C. Demonetize misinformation actors
Correct the Record There is no censorship -- Correct the Record adds
the truth but leaves the lies alone.
YouTube’s Disinformation Policy103 clearly states
three strikes rule can be found in the annex.
that “monetization is a privilege.” Creators who For YouTube, this would mean working with
By implementing the three strikes rule for meet the eligibility criteria104 (e.g. only channels
Although detoxing the algorithm will significantly its content raters and using internal detection
misinformation, YouTube would disincentivize with more than 30,000 subscribers) can apply to
limit the spread of harmful content, the scale mechanisms such as AI tools and user feedback
malicious actors -- particularly given that 70% join the YouTube Partner Program, which makes
of the problem means that some viewers will to detect misinformation videos and channels,
of the time users spend on the platform is their videos eligible to run and earn money
inevitably be exposed to misinformation. That sharing the flagged content with independent
driven by YouTube’s recommendations.102 A through advertising.
is why prevention alone is not enough -- we fact-checkers and, when a video is confirmed
three strikes rule tackles misinformation while
As of now, monetizing creators must comply with need a way to counteract the effects of to be misinformation, adding a clear disclaimer
preserving freedom of expression -- videos aren’t
advertiser-friendly content guidelines105,otherwise disinformation after people have seen it. before the video begins -- with a link to the fact-
deleted, but neither are disinformation videos
advertising will be disabled on these videos. checking website. It also means getting back to
or malicious actors boosted. With time, this
Unfortunately, in reviewing YouTube’s relevant YouTube must “Correct the Record” by providing every user who ever saw the video and providing
policy will help ensure that high quality content
monetization policies, Avaaz was not able to find corrections to each and every user who has them with the relevant correction from the fact-
is more prominently promoted by the algorithm,
a direct mention of misinformation as a criteria seen content that independent fact-checkers checkers.
while misinformation actors and their videos are
for content where advertising is banned or determine to be verifiably false or misleading.
marginalised.
disabled. The same was true for climate-specific This solution counteracts misinformation
YouTube can begin by applying this policy to misinformation and climate denial. while preserving freedom of expression.
climate misinformation, but the platform needs to
In order to disincentive creators from
implement this solution on disinformation content
spreading false content to generate revenue,
across the board as soon as possible. A piecemeal
YouTube should add misinformation
approach will continuously give misinformation
and political influence operations to its
and disinformation actors the upper hand,
“Advertiser-friendly content guidelines”106
particularly when these actors often change the
and demonetize content and channels
topics they spread misinformation about.
spreading misinformation.
Additionally, YouTube should start immediately
with the option for advertisers to exclude their
102
http://archive.ph/DHQjl
103
http://archive.fo/ORxJk
ads from videos with climate misinformation.
104
http://archive.fo/AwJqo
105
http://archive.fo/65wJi
106
http://archive.ph/nWkCK
Caption: An Avaaz mock up of what effective misinformation corrections could look like on YouTube videos.
44 45Recommendations
for Companies
In this day and age, consumers require
companies to be trustworthy and that trust
can be harmed by advertising alongside
misinformation content, especially when
those ads finance the creators and
promoters of that content.
46 47You can also read
